Grants of San Francisco was, for many years, a wonderful pipe and cigar shop in a very anti-tobacco city that was forced to close its doors a while back. They attempted to continue selling their own blends on the internet, but I am not sure if they succeeded or if they found another location. Grant's 2131 offers a nice tin note and when lit provides a large amount of creamy smoke. It is a light to medium English blend with a nutty undertone. It reminds me a bit of Uhle's Bishops Move, but not quite as good and I don't recall Bishops as being topped. A purest might call this blend an aromatic due to the nutty undertone, but the topping is very light and 2131 has a bunch of tobacco flavor that puts in more in the English blend category for my taste. 2131 burns very clean and dry and is worth a try (if it can be found) for those looking to cross over to English blends or the English smoker that seeks a little something different.

First of all, kudos to the way they run their shop at Grant's. I at first doubted that the young, Hispanic man who attended to me would know his pipe tobacco, but he was well-informed. I was there to initiate my sojourn into English, and wanted something to help me distinguish the latakia and perique. He not only recommended me this blend, he actually GAVE me a small sachet to sample- on the house. It lasted three bowlfuls. The first I had in the mancave: I marveled at the smoothness and the fact that it needed almost no drying, smoked well, and had no bite. It has a nutty, earthy flavour, with the perfect amount smokiness from the latakia and of spice from the perique. The only doubt I had was the room note, and I did get a compliment from some non-smoking guy friends on a porch one cool summer evening, therefore my rating of "pleasant".